London, 13 February 2025: The next frontier of biotechnology is here, and it is programmable. Latent Labs, a pioneering AI-driven biotech startup, has secured $50 million in funding to transform how proteins are designed, an innovation that could redefine drug discovery and accelerate life-saving treatments.
The company, founded by Dr. Simon Kohl, a key contributor to DeepMind’s Nobel Prize-winning AlphaFold project, aims to take AI-driven protein engineering to the next level. Instead of merely predicting protein structures, Latent Labs is developing AI foundation models that design entirely new proteins, unlocking therapeutic opportunities once deemed impossible.
This $40M Series A round was co-led by Radical Ventures and Sofinnova Partners, with participation from Flying Fish, Isomer, and existing investors 8VC, Kindred Capital and Pillar VC. The company has also attracted angel investment from backers including Google chief scientist Jeff Dean, Transformer architecture inventor and Cohere founder Aidan Gomez, and ElevenLabs founder Mati Staniszewski. In addition, a pre-seed round completed last year raised $10 million.
Latent Labs uses generative AI to help biotech and pharmaceutical companies design new therapeutic molecules, like antibodies and enzymes, through computational methods. This capability opens up entirely new pathways for personalised medicine, making it possible to target diseases more precisely.
As highlighted in the official press release, Simon Kohl, founder and CEO of Latent Labs, emphasised the growing demand for AI-driven solutions in drug discovery:
“Every biotechnology or pharmaceutical company wants to be at the forefront of technology to find the best therapeutic molecules, yet not all are in a position to develop the most advanced AI models for the job. That's where Latent Labs comes in. We push the frontiers of generative biology, giving our partners instant access to tools that accelerate their drug design programs.”
Latent Labs has already caught the attention of industry heavyweights. Aaron Rosenberg, Partner at Radical Ventures and former DeepMind executive, believes the company is poised to deliver breakthrough solutions in medicine. He stated:
“We’ve partnered with Latent Labs because we’re confident that this team will realize the therapeutic and commercial potential of de novo protein design. Such a capability has never before been possible, one which can benefit humanity in such a profound way. Accelerating the development of more effective cures for disease, Latent is at the vanguard of innovation in computational biology, and we are excited to join them on this journey.”
Edward Kliphuis, Partner at Sofinnova Partners, shared a similar perspective:
"Latent Labs transforms biology from an observational science into an engineering craft, granting us precise control over life’s building blocks. With pharmaceutical companies overwhelmingly demanding agile, next-generation tools to accelerate discovery and improve patient outcomes, Latent Labs is at the forefront of this rapidly growing market need."
With AI rapidly transforming biotechnology, Latent Labs is at the forefront of an industry shift where scientists no longer just study biology, they program it. By making protein design faster, cheaper, and more precise, this breakthrough could dramatically improve how we develop new drugs, vaccines, and life-saving treatments.
